Camie Geary-Martin

“Reaching back two generations to interpret the unique, elaborate and very contemporary embroideries of my grandmother, Ruth Sherren, I have begun A Collaboration with My Past. After days spent sketching in the Victoria and Albert Museum, she carefully designed and created her embroideries, incorporating a Ming vase into a face and perhaps an owl from the Natural History department perched on the shoulder of an elongated figure. By interpreting these fantastical, abstract figures in three dimensions and casting them in bronze, I am exploring my roots and the art of the grandmother I met only once.”

Other Sculptures by Camie Geary – Martin

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As an artist, I create a diverse selection of intimate and engaging bronze sculptures. My work is unique and experimental with a focus on the human form: its presence or absence, loss and memory. What is not there is as important as what is. The creation of shadows adds a further ephemeral quality to my work. A broad array of life experiences has influenced me as an individual and now informs my sculpture. This is evident in my “Shroud Series” which was inspired by a trip to Egypt.

My “Shrouds” are created by wrapping burlap dipped in wax over a series of half life size figures which I have previously sculpted in clay. After gently removing the shroud, it is sprued and vented in preparation for the foundry. It is during the casting process that the holes and empty spaces are created. The “Shrouds” are so thin that the bronze cannot reach all the areas. It is always a gamble, but very exciting to see what is unearthed from the investments. Once I have completed the grinding and patination of these intricate pieces they are mounted with the intention of resembling museum artefacts. These delicate bronzes evoke the form and in its absence the cloth holds the memory. They have been described as “Hauntingly Beautiful.”

I am also currently working on pieces from my “Branching Out Series,” featuring “Sanctuary,” a globe of simple branches representing the canopy of trees that surrounds the earth. Cast in bronze it demonstrates the strength of the canopy while the delicate twigs expose its more fragile nature. In 2011 I travelled to China to create a five foot “Sanctuary”.

I am experimenting with shape and form in this series and have created both “Columns” and “Wall Branches”.

Pieces from my recently cast “Landscape Series” were shown for the first time recently. These abstract landscape forms were inspired and sculpted during my residency in at the Vermont Studio Center.

I am also interested in creating large sculptures for outdoor settings and have submitted proposals to the Toronto Sculpture Garden.

EDUCATION

2009 – Business of Art 2009, Cultural Careers Council Ontario, Toronto, ON
2004/05 – Independent Studio Programme, Toronto School of Art, Toronto, ON
1999/04 – Diploma program, Toronto School of Art, Toronto, ON